


Tomorrow, Tomorrow

by roadsoftrial



Series: Grace Under Pressure [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Comfort, Grief, M/M, gladio is sad, short and pointless, two bros chilling in the grass, very minor Promnis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-17 23:14:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12376140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roadsoftrial/pseuds/roadsoftrial
Summary: Gladio is sad but pretends he isn't. Prompto tries to help with a silly story.





	Tomorrow, Tomorrow

 

Prompto has come to realize that sometimes, the best place for him to be is away. He's come to realize that some situations are better defused when he doesn't meddle. He's come to accept it, too. Sometimes it's best to let expert sappers handle the more delicate situations.

So when they learned that Insomnia had fallen, along with everyone and everything they cared about, when they rushed back to the Capital to make sure, because how could this be true, when they returned to Galden Quay with a quiet, too quiet Noctis in tow, Prompto knew that it was best to let Ignis take care of that ticking time bomb. He could intervene later, when his uselessness would be comforting instead of grating. He didn’t need to wait for Ignis to ask him to go; he knew Ignis would have hated doing that, but would’ve done it anyway, for Noctis.

And so he waits by the beach, waits for Noctis to calm down, for him to make up his mind about what to do next. He throws pebbles at fish, tries to mourn with his friends while shutting down the voice reminding him that _he_ didn't actually lose anything. His home is where Ignis is, now, where his three best friends are. Insomnia had never truly felt his home anyway.

Bored of the fish, takes in the view around him. Galden Quay is beautiful, peaceful, perfect. As if worlds hadn't collapsed overnight. He supposes it's the reason such a place exists: to forget.

He looks towards the grassy hills behind him. He spots a tall figure standing on the edge of the cliff facing the water. _I hope he doesn't jump_ , he can't help thinking.

Then he realizes he knows who that figure belongs to. He gets up and runs towards him. Not because he actually fears he'll jump. Just because it dawns on him, and how the hell had he not realized that yet, that more than one family was broken in the attack.

He reaches the top of the hill and stops to catch his breath. Gladio hears him huffing and puffing and turns around. Prompto sees that his eyes and nose look red, a little swollen, though he shows no expression, because that's how he was trained to handle tears.

'Oh, hey Prom.'

'Hey big guy.'

Gladio turns back to look at the water, sits on the grass still covered in dew, rubs his eyes, breathes in, longer than he normally would. Longer than his training recommends, probably.

'You gonna sit or what?'

'Oh, right, sorry.'

And so he sits by Gladio, his legs dangling off the edge of the cliff, leaning back on his arms.

‘Were you able to get in touch with Iris?’

‘Yeah, she texted me about an hour ago.’

‘Ah, that’s a relief.’

‘Yeah.’

Gladio doesn’t speak, doesn’t move. So Prompto takes a deep breath and dives in.

'I'm... I'm sorry about your dad, Gladio. It must be super hard.

Gladio chuckles, presses the palm of his hands against his eyes, long, hard.

'Thank you. It is,' he exhales.

'Do you... want to talk about it?'

He looks at Prompto, a slight smile on his lips.

'Not really. I mean, he's always made it very clear to me that this might happen. I knew what to expect. But it's still... y'know.'

'Yeah.'

More silence. Prompto isn't sure he's any help, but Gladio hasn't shut down like he thought he might, hasn't shut _him_ down like he was convinced he would. So he presses on with a confidence he didn’t know he had.

'Did I ever tell you I once wrote a paper about him? For class?'

Gladio’s eyes liven up as he looks at Prompto and laughs, actually laughs.

'What?!’

Prompto chuckles, realising a little too late how silly that story is. But it seems to have caught Gladio’s interest, so he continues.

'Yeah, it was in... I think 9th grade. We had to write about someone we admired and, well... I was really into the history of Insomnia and the royal family back then, because I had just become friends with Noct and all, so... I read a bunch of books and watched a shit-ton of documentaries about it. My favourite parts were always the bits about King Regis' retinue, and how fucking badass they were. So I wrote this reaaally long paper about how cool Clarus Amicitia was, and how he inspired me, and how I wanted to be like him… real mushy stuff. Then I realized everyone else had written about, like, their parents or their friends, y’know? _Then_ I learned we had to read our papers in front of the class. I never lived it down.’

Gladio stares at him, a grin on his face, still in disbelief.

'Prom, that's the most adorable shit I've ever heard.’

'That’s one way of seeing it,' he responds with an embarrassed laugh.

'He… he would've loved that story,' he continues, still smiling, no longer looking at Prompto. 'He always said everything he's ever done was out of duty to the King. But I've always thought deep down that old bastard liked the attention.'

Prompto chuckles quietly.

'You ever met him?'

'Once. I was super nervous though. Couldn't even say my name properly.'

'I bet. Everyone said he was scary, but he wasn’t nearly as mean as they think. He was a cool guy. Serious, but cool.’

'Like you.’

He laughs

‘Maybe so.’

Gladio lies back in the grass, his arms resting under his head, closes his eyes, a faint smile on his lips. The waves crash lazily across the shore, and they sit there in a silence Prompto doesn’t feel he needs to fill anymore.

Maybe that's how Gladio makes his peace, Prompto muses, when faced with a reality he couldn’t possibly have prevented. Gladio is strong and kind, just like his father was. Clarus wanted him to carry on, and so Gladio will, even if it hurts, even if he wishes he could’ve said goodbye. There will come a time to avenge him, a time to make amends, and when that time comes, Gladio will be ready.

But now, now is his time to grieve, to reunite with his family, to lie in the grass under the morning sun. For now, that’s all he has to do.

 

Prompto isn’t sure how long they stay there, but he notices how much warmer the air is when Ignis’ voice in the distance pulls them out of their thoughts.

They both rush to their feet, try, and fail, to wipe the wet strands of grass off their clothes, and walk back down the hill, meeting Ignis as Noctis waits by the Regalia.

‘Hey, Prom,’ Gladio calls, his voice hoarse.

‘Yeah?’

‘Thanks.’

‘No problem big guy.’

Two smiles, a slap on the back that makes Prompto stumble forward. A yelp, a heartfelt laugh.

‘Is everything alright?’ Ignis asks, slipping an arm around Prompto’s waist once Gladio has run off to the car.

‘Yeah, I think it will be,’ Prompto answers with a smile, before pressing a kiss on Ignis’ cheek.

They’re going to be alright.

**Author's Note:**

> Eeeeeeh. Guess what I did instead of studying for my midterms!  
> Not sure where I was going with this but oh well.  
> Let me know what you think!


End file.
